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京都 (Jīng dū) — Kyoto (city in Japan); capital of a country (literary or historical)

Definition

Today 京都 most commonly refers to the Japanese city of Kyoto. In classical Chinese literature it also means 'capital city' — a literary meaning the modern learner will mainly meet in ancient texts.

noun
Kyoto (city in Japan)capital of a country (literary or historical)

Examples

  • 京都。
    Rì běn Jīng dū shì yí gè hěn yǒu míng de lǚ yóu chéng shì.
    Kyoto, Japan, is a very famous tourist city.
  • ，京都。
    Gǔ dài wén xué zhōng, Jīng dū cháng zhǐ guó jiā de shǒu dū.
    In ancient literature, 'capital' often refers to a country's capital.
  • 京都。
    Hěn duō rén xiǎng qù Jīng dū yīn wèi tā de lì shǐ hěn yōu jiǔ.
    Many people want to visit Kyoto because of its long history.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

京jīngcapital
都dōucapital city

Both 京 and 都 refer to a capital city, together naming the capital or Kyoto.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

京 originally drew a tall building.

Open 京 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
邑邑yìtown, city
Sound part声符shēngfú
者
者zhě都dōu
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

都 is built from 者, which supplies the sound, and 邑, meaning town or city.

Open 都 →
Appears in
City & UrbanHistory

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